And the newcomer certainly...

And the newcomer certainly lives up to its name, with CO2 emissions of 120g/km of and combined economy of 62.8mpg. Power for Volvo’s greenest-ever conventional-engined car comes from a revamped 1.6-litre turbodiesel with 104bhp. Revised gearing and aerodynamics also help boost economy.

The firm is adding the newcomer to the range to offer a model that falls into the band B road tax bracket – it costs ?35 a year in VED. Another benefit of the low CO2 figure is that this C30 would be exempt from the London conges­tion charge under new plans being considered for next year. The Effic­iency will be sold alongside the current 109bhp C30 1.6D, which returns 57.6mpg and has a CO2 out­put of 129g/km. As this model is in band C, owners pay ?115 a year in road tax. However, the 1.6D could eventually be axed from the range.

In addition to the C30 Effic­iency, Volvo has developed a greener new auto transmission for 2.0-litre turbodiesel versions of the C30, S40 and V50. This box features Powershift technology, and uses a clever two-clutch system to give instantaneous gearchanges. As a result, it boosts efficiency over standard automatic oil-burners. The set-up will be available alongside the C30 Efficiency from early next year.